Rajya Sabha MP and former Punjab Congress chief Pratap Singh Bajwa today appealed to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to increase state assured price of sugarcane crop.
He said while the assured sugarcane price was fixed in Haryana at Rs 330, in Punjab it was between Rs 285-300.
Bajwa termed it as an "injustice to our farmers" and demanded that the price be fixed at Rs 350 in Punjab.
He said the Centre and the state government were pressing the farmers to diversify but if they were not given adequate price for their crop then no one would be willing to do it.
Bajwa said in the last four years there was no increase in the price of sugarcane in Punjab.
"Today the retail price of sugar is at an all time high of 4,100 per quintal. Seventy per cent of sugarcane is crushed by private millers in Punjab so the state government has nothing to lose.
"Private millers are into power generation, distilleries or breweries from by-products of sugarcane so they won't be affected by the price increase as they are expected to make huge profits at the prevailing rates," he said in a statement.
The Congress MP said due to lower SAP in Punjab, opposition parties are trying to project it as a decision taken under pressure from sugar barons lobby which is not the case.
"To debunk this negative propaganda against the government immediate hike should be given to the SAP by the Punjab government," he said.
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